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Luis Figueroa -- A suspect in a Hazleton kidnapping was taken into custody Friday afternoon after leading police on a manhunt that encompassed three states. Hazleton police Chief Frank DeAndrea said Luis Figueroa, 33, was captured in New York City after he crashed a stolen vehicle into a roadblock police set for him on the George Washington Bridge.

Hours before his capture following a three-state manhunt and crime spree, a man held a gun as he waited outside the Hazleton apartment of his intended victim, according to court papers.

Luis Figueroa, 33, was lying in wait outside his ex-girlfriends second-floor apartment at 149 N. Church St., a few blocks north of the Hazleton police station, according to court records that offer details of the investigation.

Court records do not indicate which of the three women living in the apartment was his former paramour, but police wrote that the woman who was kidnapped by Figueroa had an active protection from abuse order against him.

As one of the women left the apartment for work, Figueroa assaulted her just outside the door, according to arrest papers charging Figueroa with first-degree felony counts of kidnapping, aggravated assault and burglary. Court papers state Figueroa then hit the woman several more times in the head, neck and face inside the apartment, though it is unclear how they ended up back inside.

A second woman, who is eight months pregnant, intervened to assist the victim and was hit in the stomach by Figueroa, police wrote. During the struggle, the gun fell from Figueroas grips and landed inside the apartment, court papers state.

The fight between the two women and Figueroa continued outside the apartment, according to court papers, and a third woman closed the apartment door and secured it, keeping Figueroa away from the gun.

While continuing to fight with the women, Figueroa caused himself and the women to fall down a flight of stairs from the second floor to the first-floor landing, investigators wrote.

At some point, Figueroa went back to the apartment but the third woman wouldn’t let him in so he punched a glass panel on the entry door, severely cutting himself, and grabbed the gun again, police wrote.

Then, he forced the woman who had been leaving for work into a red sport utility vehicle at gunpoint and fled, heading east on Interstate 80.

The visibly pregnant woman, meanwhile, begged the driver of a school bus passing by on North Church Street for help, according to city police Chief Frank DeAndrea. The bus driver was unsure what to do, as she had children in the vehicle to protect, the chief said.

Police who were dispatched to the scene at 8:18 a.m. found two children who were unharmed inside the apartment and had them placed in protective custody.

According to the Express-Times of Easton, New Jersey State Police received a 911 call at 9:43 a.m. from the kidnapped woman, who escaped from the vehicle when Figueroa pulled into the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center in Hardwick Township, New Jersey. The woman called for help at the Knowlton Township Post Office, according to published reports.

She told New Jersey State Police she was kidnapped, physically assaulted and sexually assaulted by Figueroa, police said.

Figueroa also assaulted a National Park Service worker at the visitor center and stole the employees 2005 Dodge Caravan. A shotgun was recovered in the area of the visitor center.

He drove to Paterson, New Jersey, where he attempted to trade in the park rangers vehicle for a Cadillac Escalade, but an argument ensued at the dealership, DeAndrea said. Figueroa assaulted the dealer, set the dealership on fire and attempted to burn the car dealer himself before stealing the Escalade and fleeing.

New Jersey State Police, along with a state police helicopter, pursued Figueroa as he traveled toward New York City, where he eventually crashed the Escalade and was taken into custody.

The woman who was kidnapped sustained numerous serious injuries, according to Figueroas arrest papers, including fractured orbital bones, police wrote, and was taken to Pocono Medical Center, East Stroudsburg. The pregnant woman initially was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton and then flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Allentown, for treatment of numerous serious injuries, according to arrest papers.

Hazleton police obtained an arrest warrant Friday for Figueroa, who is in custody in New York state, though it is unclear when he will answer the charges locally. His last known address was 975 Walton Ave., Apt. 1, Bronx, N.Y.

achristman@standardspeaker.com

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